Leading UK universities disagree on how to respond to ChatGPT. I with Oxford and Cambridge among those who ban the technology for fear of plagiarism, while others choose to embrace it.
Eight of the 24 elite Russell Group universities have advised students that using an AI bot to complete assignments is considered academic misconduct, including Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and Oxbridge.
Dozens of other universities around the country, including Durham, Liverpool and Northampton, have been struggling to review their plagiarism policies for this year’s rankings since ChatGPT launched in November.
Developed by Microsoft’s non-profit technology OpenAI, the chatbot crawls large swathes of the Internet in search of answers to users’ questions. Unlike other AI bots, it outputs results in a smooth, complex language that users can scale to the size they want. And unlike other AI bots, it’s free.
A vending machine that has crashed many times in recent months due to being overwhelmed by users can rave about it. OdysseyCompare postmodernism with modernity and evaluate the relative advantages of gene interaction.
In short, ChatGPT could mean the death of the traditional essay that has been the dominant form of rankings for centuries.
The sudden spike late last year sent the education sector into a panic, with experts warning that universities may have to change their approach to assignments or face an endless stream of cyborg dissertations.
Almost 40 percent of all universities in the UK said so. I They blocked ChatGPT or revised their policy to ban the chatbot.
A total of 28 universities were surveyed. I said they have updated their plagiarism policy to specifically ban the use of ChatGPT for essays and courses – nearly 20 percent of all UK universities.
An Oxford University spokesperson said: I: “Students have been informed that we do not allow the use of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT in their graded papers until further notice.”
They said the university would soon release new guidelines for students and would work with examination boards “to minimize issues and challenges in the current assessment cycle.”
So they said at the University of Cambridge I that it has developed specific guidance for each department to address concerns about “risks to review honesty”.
A spokesperson said, “Students should be the authors of their own work. Content generated by artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT does not represent the student’s own original work and will therefore be considered a form of academic misconduct that must be dealt with under the university’s disciplinary procedures.”
University penalties for plagiarism include an automatic zero grade for work or a reduction in the student’s overall annual performance, while penalties for doing work on behalf of someone include the deprivation of all academic qualifications required by the university.
An additional 28 universities have said they are reviewing their misconduct policies to accommodate ChatGPT, and many have rushed to do so before exam season starts this summer.
The Universities of Northumbria, Northampton and Essex said they were reviewing their existing policies on how to handle “new technology”, while Glasgow Caledonian University said it would educate academic staff “what to look for when reviewing grades in order to help bring out the student’s unwritten work”.
But others, importantly, have taken a more holistic approach. I They were open to the academic opportunities that artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT could open up.
The University of Glasgow said its staff is interested in learning “how students can be encouraged to use large language models responsibly in their courses.”
Meanwhile, Heriot-Watt was performing in Edinburgh. I the software offers “exciting possibilities” and the university is exploring ways to integrate it into assessment systems to “help students become true global change agents.”
University College London (UCL) has even updated its website to show how students can use ChatGPT to save time on usually time consuming bibliographies, credits and links.
“We believe these tools can be both transformative and disruptive,” says the Russell Group University website. “We support you in their efficient, ethical and transparent use.”
Options within higher education represent a fight-or-flight battle with ChatGPT that many institutions are currently fighting.
Last week, I identified officials were asked not to use the AI chatbot to write government policy or correspondence.
The State Department also warned potential Student Essay Award applicants that it would scan all submissions for ChatGPT’s robotic fingerprints, although when asked it could not say what software it would use. I.
In contrast, the International Baccalaureate (IB) has stated that students will be allowed to use a chatbot in their essays.
Matt Glanville, IB’s leader on assessment principles and practice, said the chatbot should be seen as “a unique opportunity,” although he warned that students should clearly quote responses.
Policy makers and pundits are also excited about the features ChatGPT has to offer, including saving time on tedious tasks.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt boasted of using the software to give a speech on the UK’s economic future at a Bloomberg reception last month.
Meanwhile, U.S. Vanderbilt University officials were forced to apologize last week after admitting they used ChatGPT to write a comforting email to students following the mass shooting at Michigan State University.
experts told I that no matter how organizations try to fight the AI bot, ChatGPT is not going anywhere.
Mike Sharples, Emeritus Professor of Educational Technology at The Open University, who has yet to update his plagiarism policy, explained I: “We need to think about it now, not in the future, because students are already using it. The education system must catch up with what is already happening.”
At the moment, essays written by ChatGPT are easy to smell. Last year, I had software record answers to GCSE history questions and had them reviewed by a high school teacher who said they were fragmentary, “empty” and sometimes factually incorrect. He gave them a grade of 7, which, according to the old grading system, corresponds to a low five.
But Mr Sharples warned that a more subtle version is just around the corner and could democratize shortcuts that have always existed at some level, including the expensive writing factories favored unfairly by wealthy students.
Turnitin, a plagiarism detector used by 98 per cent of UK universities, has accelerated the development of an optimized system capable of detecting ChatGPT tell-tale signs. The update is scheduled to be launched in April 2023, but it is not yet clear whether universities will have to pay extra for it.
Until this is launched, there is no real way for universities to track signs of ChatGPT interference, and experts warn that the UK may be a long way from reliable recognition software. Meanwhile, universities may be wondering: Is ChatGPT the future of cheating or the future of learning?
Source: I News
With a background in journalism and a passion for technology, I am an experienced writer and editor. As an author at 24 News Reporter, I specialize in writing about the latest news and developments within the tech industry. My work has been featured on various publications including Wired Magazine and Engadget.